Transition out of deep freeze likely to be messy, icy

Southwest Washington will begin to warm up from a week of frigid weather this evening, but not without a messy transition.

Forecasters say a low-pressure system will arrive from the south this evening. Moisture will initially fall as snow before turning into freezing rain overnight, although it is unclear how long it will take before switching to straight rain. A worst-case scenario called for as much as a third of an inch of ice. A best-case scenario called for a quick transition to rain.

“These types of forecast scenarios are always tricky across the Portland-Vancouver area,” said Shawn Weagle, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Portland.

Cold air pouring out of the Columbia River Gorge will allow the wintry mix to linger longer in Camas-Washougal.

“Especially in the Vancouver area, we’ll probably be starting off as snow or sleet sometime Friday evening and then gradually changing over to freezing rain and rain as we go through the night and into Saturday,” Weagle said.

Vancouver officially recorded a high temperature of 36 degrees Thursday, after an early morning low of 12.

Sunshine belied a trying week characterized by burst water pipes, sky-high power bills and a cold-air inversion that accumulated wood smoke like Southern California smog. David Adams, owner of Miller’s One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning, said his 16 technicians worked 15-hour days fixing overworked furnaces.

“This has been bananas,” Adams said.